The 12 most interesting and strange Christmas facts from around the world

Although Christmas is all about traditions, there are many interesting and sometimes strange things about this holiday. Do you know why Rudolph the Reindeer has a red nose? What do people eat for Christmas dinner in Japan? How long does it take for Santa to deliver all the presents in one night? We collected the most interesting and strange Christmas facts from around the world: this holiday can be very surprising!

"Jingle Bells" was written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas. The song was written in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont. It was supposed to be played in the composer's Sunday school class during Thanksgiving as a way to commemorate the famous Medford roller coaster races. "Jingle Bells" was also the first song to be broadcast from space.

Rudolph's red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. According to Roger Highfield, author of The Physics of Christmas: From Reindeer Aerodynamics to Turkey Thermodynamics, the world's most famous reindeer has a red nose due to a parasite. However, Rudolph's relationship with his parasite is symbiotic: after all, the red nose lights the path through the winter night for the entire reindeer team.

In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) arrives from Spain, not the North Pole. And that's not the only strange thing about Dutch Christmas. Sinterklaas has his little helpers, but they are not the admirable hard-working elves: they are black-faced boys and girls who can steal your children if they misbehave and bring them to Spain which is, according to the Dutch, a severe punishment.

In Germany, Poland and Ukraine, finding a spider on a Christmas tree is believed to herald good luck. According to one legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus, according to another, a spider's web on a Christmas tree turned silver and gold as soon as sunlight touched it. One way or another, decorating a Christmas tree with artificial spiders and cobwebs will inevitably bring you luck and prosperity!

Santa stretches time like a rubber band so he can deliver all the presents in one night. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are 2.106 million children under the age of 18 in the world. If we assume that each family has an average of 2.5 children, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. Given the different time zones, Santa has 36 hours to deliver presents, so his average speed would be approximately 650 miles per second. It's less than the speed of light (so it's theoretically possible, but still quite difficult for a chubby old man). Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, suggests that Santa uses the clouds of relativity to get the job done. Relativity clouds, based on relativistic physics, allow Santa to stretch time like a rubber band giving him months to deliver presents while only minutes pass for the rest of us.

Two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular occasions for couples to break up. According to data analyzed from Facebook posts and statuses, couples are most likely to end their relationship two weeks before Christmas and two weeks after Valentine's Day, during spring break. Christmas Day, however, is the least favorite day for breakups.

In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce and spinach. Many Armenians fast for a week before Christmas, which is why, in order not to stress the stomach, the menu for Christmas dinner is very light.

The Japanese traditionally eat at KFC for Christmas dinner. Even though the percentage of Christian people in Japan is close to zero, every Christmas, children and adults alike head to the nearest KFC to enjoy some fried chicken, the closest thing to turkey you can get in Japan. All thanks to a successful "Kentucky for Christmas"! Marketing campaign in 1947. First aimed at foreigners, KFC offered a "Christmas dinner" featuring chicken and wine, a meal that closely resembled the food of expats and tourists back home. After a huge success, Kentucky Fried Chicken began promoting this offer every year until the fast food chain became strongly associated with the holiday season.

The "X" in "Xmas" does not get the "Christ" from "Christmas." Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas, however, some people think this spelling is incorrect because it removes the "Christ" from Christmas. Don't worry, no one is taking "Christ" anywhere. In the Greek alphabet, the letter X (“chi”) is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ or Christos.

The first artificial Christmas tree was not a tree at all. It was created from goose feathers that were dyed green. The first artificial Christmas trees were developed in Germany in the 19th century, due to ongoing massive deforestation. Feather trees became increasingly popular during the early 20th century and eventually made their way to the US.

Iceland has 13 Santas and an old lady who kidnaps children. Christmas in Iceland is a colorful amalgamation of religion, fairy tales and folklore. Instead of a Santa, children are visited by 13 Yule Lads who either reward children for good behavior or punish them if they are bad. The holiday period starts 13 days before Christmas and each day one of the 13 Yule Lads comes home and fills the shoes that the children leave under the Christmas tree with either sweets and small gifts or rotten potatoes, depending on how he has behaved special child the previous day. The mother of the Yule Lads, half-troll, half-beast, the horrible old woman Grýla, kidnaps bad children and boils them in her cauldron.

In Germany, Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, is said to be a magical time when the pure of heart can hear the animals talking. They can also see rivers turn into summer, Christmas tree flowers bear fruit, mountains open up, revealing pearls hidden within, and bells can be heard from the bottom of the sea.